Quick Links

These 2009 films illustrate how we have made significant advancements in our approaches to determining romantic compatibility. Yes. We have progressed from the less practical approach of trusting astrology, to the more practical one of trusting surveys and quizzes on social networking websites!

*In Saif's now-signature tone.*Okay. Sorry. Bad joke.

Although, I must say from experience, it's exponentially more fun to poke someone outside of Facebook! Told you there's always a connection if you're looking for it. =)

So here's what I think is the real deal with three entertaining, fun, and engaging films -- Life Partner, Tum Mile, Love Aaj Kal (each belonging to a different genre) -- that I quite enjoyed about equally (I'll only have brief commentary on Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani):

Somewhere therein lies a circle closest to a 'perfect' circle. It might not be evident at the first few glances. Keep looking (i.e. keep testing the waters), however, and chances are it will be ultimately discovered. The path to its discovery can be very different, ranging from the the deeply emotional and even life-threatening (Tum Mile), to the comic (Life Partner) and frustrating (Love Aaj Kal). But the biggest challenge in each case, and for each party, is belief in persistence. The search must continue for discovery.

------

TUM MILE (You Were Found) is a love story at its core, and a mature one at that. Akshay (Emraan Hashmi) and Sanjana (Soha Ali Khan) draw the circles for most of this engaging and often intelligent film, in which the terrible Bombay floods of 2005 (which took over 1000 lives) assume a character of their own. (There's more to the rain overall than mere ferocity -- think rain that inspires poetry.)

This one stays true to the brand promise of the Bhatt camp and Emraan Hashmi -- if you've seen their films Jannat(2008) and Awarapan (2007), you have a pulse for it. If you haven't seen an Emraan film, please help me understand why. Is it the perceived image of serial kisser? (Surely, kissing is better than the inverse!) Or is it something else? I hope it's not his acting, because he's really quite good. And I hope it's not his choice of films, because it's arguably better and more diverse than that of most of his generation.

Akshay and Sanjana date, and live together in Cape Town, before career goals and the unwillingness to commit to marriage separate them. He is an artist, she a writer/editor. He struggles to pay his bills, she belongs to a wealthy family. (The difference in social scale doesn't draw dramatic interference from external sources, which is refreshing to see in a Hindi film -- I guess we're growing up!)

There is a concerted effort to not break up, and in this respect, the film is different from the separation in Love Aaj Kal (discussed below). They meet again several years later aboard a flight to Mumbai, only this time, Sanjana's traveling with another guy. Akshay spends most of the flight thinking back to their relationship. It's a sweet romance, but like their flight, filled with moments of turbulence. The calm following the flight is accompanied by the floods, so there are few moments of white space, and plenty of spills toward the end.

I expected more twists in Tum Mile, but really liked what I got, nevertheless. (And that's not to say it is predictable...it isn't.) And why not, when there's so much to appreciate?

It's a well-written story with witty dialogue that's true to the characters and their professions (as is their wardrobe). There's also some fascinating direction (Kunal Deshmukh) on display. One feels the cold and wet of the moment (or maybe my experiences with hurricanes in Miami, Florida, contributed to it?), and the desperation and longing accompanying it. It must have been a massive and logistically difficult undertaking for the cast and crew to film the portions in the water -- they've spent a good amount of time there, and their efforts show. Besides, there's hardly anything overdone about the portrayal of the events during the day and a half or so of chaos. If anything, it's less harsh than the actual, but which human can create it as it was?

Emraan and Soha pitch in with superb performances (I say their best yet), and they have equally significant roles, therefore about equal time on screen, which is not reflected in the soundtrack which has songs only by male vocalists. The background score (Raju Singh) is sprinkled with spurts of brilliance. The songs (Pritam, lyrics by Sayeed Qadri) are good, too (listen to the complete album at this Dhingana.com link; this pop rock album is Pritam's best in quite a while). It's interesting how a film with such a strong presence of a natural disaster can be as (intentionally) pleasant. Can't remember a Hindi film that did both so effectively. In fact, this might just be the first Hindi film using even just the backdrop of a natural disaster. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Tum Mile makes it to my favorites of 2009. I love the intent and like most of the execution. (Although there's one problem to the climax that could've been much better resolved, it's the only reason I don't rate the film at a 4.) If you're willing to immerse yourself in this film, it will pull you in and hold you there. See it from the angle of a love story and not that of a disaster film, and I like the chances you'll like it.

More like this beautiful, contemporary romance, please. And a round of applause for Emraan and Soha -- they are underrated and underappreciated. If you aren't familiar with their works (well, other than Soha's debut in Rang De Basanti (2006)), this is a very good place to start.

Movie rating: 3.75/5 (Very good!)I appreciate the sensibility and civility films like this bring to Bollywood. Any true well-wisher of Hindi films would want the offering of films to be diverse. There's plenty of room for all kinds of films to succeed. To those who have repeatedly demonstrated (and in many cases, unkindly and condescendingly so) an extreme intolerance for realist and sensible cinema: Only fluff/escapist stuff makes for an extremely dull industry, doesn't it?

Music rating: 3.5/5 (Good!)The album, which has multiple flavors of love songs (and only love songs), sounds great in the car (especially while driving with the top down, on a dark moonlit night, and by the sea; hint after obvious hint, ye lovers! ;D). Add to it that the background score is simply marvelous.

LIFE PARTNER is not strong at all on paper. In fact, I would probably not have seen it if not for Genelia D'Souza. But I'm glad for both, because Genelia, Prachi Desai, Govinda, Tushar Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Anupam Kher, Vikram Gokhale, and Darshan Jariwala (Gandhi in Gandhi My Father (2007)), are all in top form as they deliver a fun-filled comedy that had me laughing out louder than any other 2009 film.

Everyone is looking for the perfect circle here! Govinda, Fardeen, and Tushar are friends. Govinda is a divorce lawyer. Fardeen is Genelia's boyfriend. He's a helpless lover. Genelia changes her profession every few months. Tushar is a conservative Non-Resident Indian who refuses to touch another woman until he marries her. He's the hopeless lover who goes bride-hunting in India, with almost everyone involved in the search. The film begins at a courthouse, and is primarily a flashback, with Fardeen and Tushar seeking divorce.

Don't know where to begin here. It's loud. It's full of cliches. It's hardly got anything new. But I really enjoyed it! For starters, it's a lot less tacky than I anticipated. The songs don't get in the way. The production quality is good. But it is the one-liners and the actors who deliver them, that make it all work rather well. It's a pleasant film which is self-aware and focused.

All one needs to say about Govinda is (again!) that he plays a divorce lawyer. Just imagine the havoc! Tushar is perfect for his role, and this has to be my favorite film starring him.

My conditional recommendation here must reference Partner (2007). If you enjoyed that Govinda-Salman Khan starrer, I say give Life Partner (no connection implied) a shot, you'll find it to be a fun timepass flick. It has a lot more parental involvement than Partner, which makes it a more conventional Bollywood comedy. But each of Gokhale, Jariwala, and Kher, are splendid here. The climax could've been better, but those looking for logic are better-served looking elsewhere anyway.

My rating: 3.5/5 (Good!)(Adjusted for Genelia-appreciation/admiration/adoration; Gosh, it must be something else! :D)

LOVE AAJ KAL ('Love These Days', could also imply 'Love: Then and Now') does well for its case. Contrasting perceptions of romantic relationships in the past and present carries the risk of compartmentalizing the perceptions in an absolute sense. This film comes close, but finds a way to ignore that risk along the way and overcomes it as a result. It is much better for it.

The script, cinematography, choreography, and especially the pacing, are its strong suits. Several good components facilitate good films when the acting is up to par, and Saif Ali Khan delivers a fine performance which makes this film work. He's perfected the role, and he's convincing as ever, although he looks old to be playing the character of the younger Veer Singh. Really quite enjoyed the sincerity of these performances. It shows in the two characters he plays, especially as Jai Vardhan Singh. Talk about conviction!

He's not at all bad as Veer, either. The bits in San Francisco are among my favorite, with the song Main Kya Hoon(K.K.) -- which outlines the experience of a single dude at the outset of his career -- exceptionally easy to relate to, and exceptionally well depicted. Video games are only so alluring. And Saif looks only so evil.

Props to Jai for keepin' it real.

Here's the first after Om Shanti Om (2007)in which I really enjoyed watching Deepika Padukone.

I'll tell you *what*! Deepika is *cute*! She's fabulous and well cast here. Sure, she's not near the best actor (and it shows in the second half), and sure, she's also behind one of the least impressive decisions made by any character in the film (involving Vikram (Rahul Khanna); the film could've been better without it). Yet, it's testament to the writing and to her casting that she fits right in.

The writing also clearly allows Giselle Monteiro (who plays Harleen Kaur), a Brazilian model, to effectively play the part of a Punjabi belle. What an absolute delight!

Didn't realize her roots didn't lie in India until we got to the fine wedding song Thoda Thoda Pyaar (Sunidhi Chauhan) in which she had to lip-sync. That's okay, the song still rocks (look, Saif and the chicken dance!), and so does she. Love the second paragraph, it's got all the hallmarks of a fascinatingly flirtatious, subtly erotic (ahem...bodies and blades? Blimey!), and clean core Bollywood song.

This (which will make more sense if you've seen the film) is more representative of California culture (love it!) than anything in Kambakkht Ishk. Perhaps I can bury KI's ghost now. (I know this was in London, but still... :D)

Atop what I didn't like is the editing. Some of the songs (esp. Twist) is almost used as filler. The film is predictable, and it doesn't quite make up for the less engaging bits in the second half. In other words, the film didn't need to be near as long as it is. But then, since when was that a major issue for the Bollywood-consuming population? Close to four stars for Love Aaj Kal. It's one of the best films of 2009, and it's most definitely worth at least one watch.

Movie rating: 3.75/5 (Very good!)

Music rating: 3.5/5 (Good!)Sounds much better after the film, mostly good integration.

AJAB PREMI KI GHAZAB KAHANI (A Fantastic Tale of Unconventional Love) is extremely conventional and absolutely not fantastic. It is so not because of its conventionalism or its ordinariness. Those are tolerable, even celebrated (see discussion on Life Partner above). I try not to spend much time on films that I have bad things to say about, but have to say this: There's very little about this film I enjoyed. Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif try hard (and to their credit, that's about all they can do), but this has to be the worst movie I have seen Katrina in. What a complete waste!

It's as if the filmmakers considered the script as an afterthought. Trying to mask it with 'check your brains at the door' (gosh, a LOT of films of late seem to be saying that) does NOT make up for it in this case. Besides, the better films are those that garner the mood without having to explicitly state this.

The big problem with Ajab Prem is it isn't held together well, and the purpose, if there is one, isn't consistently approached. If this is the best Rajkumar Santoshi can give us, I'd rather he not write a sequel to Andaz Apna Apna (1994). While that was more silly in many ways, it was a product of intelligence. Didn't think it would be possible, but this one competes with Kambakkht Ishk for how unfunny and simply irritating (hence annoying) it is. Oh, well. On to the next...

I was surprised at enjoying Life Partner too! I'd say this is Genelia's best Bollywood work after Jaane Tu, and it was she, Govinda, Tushar, and the dads, who made it work well. Be warned that this brand of comedy has a very strong Indian flavor to it that might not translate well culturally, so if you've seen something like Partner, I'd say go by what you thought about that.

Found APKGK to be very boring, truly, and I'm disappointed that I trusted the film enough to see it in theaters.

There are people out there saying it's 'entertaining', and of course, I just don't see why. But had to include the 'Life Partner' review with this post to illustrate I'm no 'soulless idiot without a sense of humor' either. :D

Love Aaj Kal is good, really. I'd watch it for Saif and the pacing, at least. That and Tum Mile = good stuff.

Great! so I can look forward to buy [which I rarely do] DVD of Tum Mile. I loved his act in Awarapan. So definitely looking forward to this. So sad that the movie called off due to controversies.

as u already know by my tweets, Life Partner is my Gulity Pleasure movie too. Or may be, there must be just one reason to enjoy it. ;) But if the movie did not have Govinda there, it would have been Awesome. [how abt Sallu!!]

And Oh Genelia...even Kooke Kooke turned into gold with u.

Contrasting your views, I rate Deepika, so much out of form here. She looked totally out of place to me. [only Chor Bazari i enjoyed]. Otherwise the movie is quite good. Most delightful part was 'Kal' in the movie. Loved Saif and Giselle in Thoda Thoda Pyar.

Sad Sad Sad about APKGK :( and oh, I wasn't joking abt that tweet in answer to ur APKGK views. I really don't like that movie. :)

And oh, what a post. I am loving these multiple movie posts. Keep it Coming.

Darshit! I'm quite confident you'll like Tum Mile. I know you like the soundtrack (in fact, your review led me to it a few weeks ago; shall add the link in a bit), and it's really quite beautifully integrated. I was surprised at the great chemisty Emraan and Soha shared.

On Life Partner, I thought Govinda was an asset! And yes, before the film, I was wondering what on earth these guys were thinking with that Kooke song. Genelia and the situation had me ROTFLOL, seriously. :)

You're probably right about Deepika in Love Aaj Kal, but I really enjoyed her in that role, there might be something to be said about the resemblance with some of her real-world peers out there (In a good way, of course! :) And definitely agree on 'Kal' being better.

On APKGK...I'm just confused. To each his own, of course, and this one's done well at the box office, so I get that I might not 'get' it yet. A couple of my friends didn't mind it. Truth is, if Katrina wasn't in it, I'd have walked out at the half. Oh, well. By the way, that Sallu scene was neat.

By the way, thanks for your comment, glad you enjoyed the post. I think you'll like the next one too. :)

I'd definitely be interested in your take on Life Partner, then. Beware, since you didn't think much of Genelia's character in Jaane Tu: she has a somewhat similar personality here. But then, I also sense you're a Tushar Kapoor fan, in which case you wouldn't want to miss it.

I think Emraan's best performances besides Tum Mile (stay away from it if you dislike realistic themes) were in 'Awarapan' and 'Jannat'. Didn't dislike him at all in 'The Train' and 'The Killer' (average films) -- thought he did well matching up with Irrfan Khan in the latter. The alternate view would be that Irrfan came down a few notches to adjust, but still. :)

"If anything, it's less harsh than the actual, but which human can create it as it was?"

Haha, tell me are you are a lawyer or something? I was gonna say 2012 came out same day Tum Mile did and 2012 definitely looked 10x more real, but how can anyone argue that "which human can create it as it was"? Good one.

Haven't seen 2012, and probably won't. A quick search reveals its budget was >= $200 million (LA Times). Contrast that amount with the budget of Tum Mile -- not small by Hindi film standards at Rs. 25 Crore (Screen India), which is around (don't quote me on this, rough estimate) $5 million.

Assuming those numbers are accurate, Tum Mile's budget is ~2.5% the budget for 2012. There's no comparison budget-wise, and there will be no comparision special effects-wise, right?! I think what helps Tum Mile is that it's a love story and not a natural disaster film.

Hi Arjavi: Long time! How've you been? Glad you liked Tum Mile, Soha definitely stepped it up a few notches here, good to see. I wish the climax were a bit better, would've been easier to justify a 4/5 from me. But what do ratings matter? Bottom line is we liked it.

I am glad you liked Love Aaj Kal. I think there are only 3 of us so far in Blogland who have liked this movie very much (PPCC, yourself and me). I intend to see Tum Mile, Life Partner and Ajab Prem - so will read your review of these movies and post comments later.

I am glad you liked 'Tum Mile' - I am really looking forward to it, even though I'm a bit iffy about Soha - I find her really boring/annoying to watch most of the time, but maybe this one will change my mind.

I don't get why people don't like Emraan either - I think it might be a combo of the kissing thing (which I must admit I quite like) and his Bhatt-loyalty (I think some people tend to equate the Bhatts with sleaze). I disagree with the latter as well - while their output isn't always to my taste, I think the Bhatts make some really interesting and provocative films (with great music!). Anyway, I think Emraan's great, definitely underrated, LOVED him in 'Awarapan' and have liked him in pretty much everything else of his I've seen. I think he's a decent actor, and pretty easy on the eye too!

I really enjoyed Partner, so I will probably give Life Partner a try, even if I don't particularly care for 3 of the 4 leads (Fardeen being the exception). Not sure about 'Ajab Prem...' - my impression from the trailers is that it's more than a little corny, and your review makes me even less interested.

I didn't like LAK much at all - I found it very boring in parts (especially the 'aaj' parts), the storyline grated on my nerves (although I did find some of the 'kal' scenes very sweet), I found Deepika totally unlikeable... but hey, it was a big hit after all, and I'm glad to see that at least 3 people in the blogosphere liked it!

I hope this changes your mind about Soha, Daddy's Girl. Really liked her in Rang De Basanti (especially) and Khoya Khoya Chand, but this is probably her best work. I like that Emraan finally gets a really good actress to work with. Do stop by and share your thoughts once you've seen it.

As for Emraan (he's related to the Bhatts), I think the kissing thing has become such a stereotype by now. There's only one kissing scene in Tum Mile, for example, yet, in many reviews in the more prominent publications, it's the only frame that shows up. Such madness. Agreed on perceptions of the Bhatt camp too, but as you say, they've always had an interesting blend of narrative and music.

Fardeen isn't bad at all in Life Partner. There's this one sequence in a train in which he's just great. Ajab Prem was disappointing, yes. And I do wish some bits of LAK were edited out. The aaj ki story was predictable and probably too long. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. :)

Hmmm Found Love Aaj Kal below average i was so mad at the whole Meera and Rahul Khanna thing if you were unsure why lead him all the way to the altar. They were both selfish people i mean Meera and Saif (check out how he conveniently used and then dumped his second girl after Meera) I bet if Meera had done what she did to Rahul to an actor like Srk (lets imagine Srk was playing Rahul's role) there would have been an outcry

As for APKGK i found it utterly silly and i felt Ranbir was shouting at me in some scenes. that film put me off going to see nay other new releases till next year apart from 3 idiots that is

On LAK...that careless and often unfair (to the other party) attitude demonstrated by both seems to be quite prevalent these days, sadly. That bit with Rahul Khanna though, was just sad and ridiculous. Also with you on the more popular actor situation -- come to think of it, if the film was making a statement about it being wrong, it would've been better-served with a more popular actor. But then, they probably didn't want Deepika's character looking worse than she did, LOL.

I had really liked LAK. Gave it a glowing review too ;) It was so strange watching APKGK in the theater-I had SO MUCH FUN! I was actually laughing loudly in so many scenes and Ajit was right next to me and he hated it! It's like we saw 2 different movies!

Oh, of course Pitu! You should've scolded me for not going to see LAK in theaters. Liked your review here, and I'm laughing at my comment there. Not about Deepika and Saif, but about the music and its integration. That one song is probably the one I liked most in the context of the film!

As for APKGK, it's so true about almost watching two different movies, don't know how to explain it. But then, there isn't a measurable explanation for many things out there. (Speaking of Dil v Dimaag again :) Say hi to Ajit for me!

Just actually finished watching Life Partner last week (I did a mini-review on my blog this week). Didn't love it though (Genelia's character irritated me beyond belief), however I liked Tushar and Govinda in it. The premise was good, I just wish it had been better executed, especially the climax. Liked the songs though (even Kuke kuke!)

I was really disappointed with Love Aaj Kal. I thought Saif was great, but wished for much more of the Veer story line. Again, really like the music.

Haven't seen the other two, but Tum Mile looks very very good. I will look for it definitely next time I'm at a store. I'm sure I've seen Soha in more, but I know that I enjoyed her very much in RDB.

Nicki: Thanks for your comment. I hear you, about falling behind in 2009. I have DVDs of what are some seemingly good films (Dev.D, Kaminey, Wake Up Sid, to name a few) lying around that I have yet to get to.

Maybe the whole U.S.-India thing in Love Aaj Kal had me interested. I liked it overall. And oh, yes, Tum Mile is great! Soha had me at the very beginning, with her "people change" comment on the airplane. Knock-out performances by both Emraan and her, and Tum Mile was certainly worth it for that alone. Plus, some fine, fine music!

Good luck with Life Partner and Ajab Prem, if you do see them. Ranbir and Kats look good, but the storyline and the film was so poor, it's reduced my Katrina/Ranbir (people like abbreviations...can we call them Katbir? :D) fandom by quite a bit, sadly.

Shell: I've fallen behind on blogging and the blogosphere this month, hope to stop by yours for your take on Life Partner. Agreed on the climax. Have you seen Partner?

Interesting experience with Love Aaj Kal. I liked the music more after seeing the film. The Veer story was much better, yes.

If I were to pick one film I've seen in the second half of 2009, it would be Tum Mile. Please be warned it's a box office dud. Still, I'd recommend it over Ajab Prem (the box office darling), hands down. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer

This blog is merely a labor of love. It never has and never will contain advertisements of any sort. Copyrights to images, music, and video are owned by the respective content publishers. Copyrights to the text, unless otherwise noted, are owned by me.

I do not blog on behalf of anyone but myself. Please feel free to disagree with my opinions, and read at your own risk. I shall not be held liable for any outcomes, no matter how material or otherwise :) Enjoy!

"See, I wanted to be a director, I became one. Wanted to be an actor, I became one. Wanted to make good pictures, I have done that too. Have money, have everything. But I have nothing left."

Guru Dutt

"The world screams and shouts all kinds of advice and suggestions and actions to be undertaken, but in the end you fight your battles alone. It's just you and your opponent, your issue, your problem."

Amitabh Bachchan

"While we can use cinema as a medium to teach, create awareness, make people think, make people socially more aware, etc., the fact is that cinema's primary purpose is to entertain."